Consciousness, Spirituality and Transpersonal Psychology Faculty

Professor Les Lancaster

Les Lancaster is Emeritus Professor of Transpersonal Psychology at Liverpool John Moores University, Honorary Research Fellow in the Centre for Jewish Studies at Manchester University, and Adjunct Research Faculty at Sofia University and the California Institute of Integral Studies. He is currently Chair of the Transpersonal Psychology Section of the British Psychological Society, and President of the International Transpersonal Association. Lesâ€™ research interests focus on the cognitive neuroscience of consciousness and the psychology of mysticism, with a specific focus on Kabbalistic Psychology. Over his career, Les has striven to disseminate key aspects of consciousness studies and transpersonal psychology to a wide audience, both academic and more popular.

He is committed to the value of transpersonal perspectives in a range of professional areas, including coaching, therapy and management. In addition to various journal articles, Lesâ€™ published works include Mind Brain and Human Potential, winner of a Science and Medical Network Best Book Award, The Elements of Judaism, Approaches to Consciousness: the Marriage of Science and Mysticism, and The Essence of Kabbalah.

Professor Harris Friedman

Harris L. Friedman, Ph.D. is Research Professor of Psychology (Retired) at University of Florida and Professor Emeritus at Saybrook University, as well as a Florida licensed psychologist. He received his PhD in Clinical Psychology at Georgia State University, and holds the Diploma in both Clinical Psychology and Organizational and Business Consulting Psychology from the American Board of Professional Psychology, as well as is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association.

He is past President of the International Transpersonal Association, and serves as the Senior Editor of the International Journal of Transpersonal Studies and the Associate Editor of The Humanistic Psychologist. He has more than 200 scholarly publications, including his most recent co-edited books published by Praeger: Mysterious Minds: The Neurobiology of Psychics, Mediums, and Other Extraordinary People and Debating Psychic Experiences: Human Potential or Human Illusion?

He is currently co-editing The Praeger Handbook of Transpersonal Psychology in Practice, The Praeger Series on Social Justice and Psychology (2 volumes), The Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of Transpersonal Psychology, and Advances in Parapsychological Research, Volume 9 & 10 to be published by McFarland. He practices clinical and organizational consulting psychology, and continues to conduct research on transpersonal and other topics.

Dr. Peter Malinowski

Peter Malinowski is senior lecturer in psychology and cognitive neuroscience at Liverpool John Moores University in the UK. He is founding director of the Meditation and Mindfulness Research Group in Liverpool, focusing his research on the psychological and (neuro-) physiologicalmechanisms and effects of meditation practice.

In particular he studies the improvement of cognitive and emotional control processes through meditation. A more applied focus of his research is concerned with the effects of meditation on cognitive ageing and on developing a more mindful approach to food and eating.

Dr. Malinowski developed several mindfulness training programmes, in particular the popular mindfulness@work programme that brings mindfulness into the work place. He has authored various scientific articles and book chapters and in his free time he also travels internationally to teach Buddhism. See www.meditation-research.org.uk

Steve Taylor

Steve Taylor is a lecturer in psychology at Leeds Metropolitan University, and the author of several books on psychology and spirituality, including
The Fall, Making Time, Waking From Sleep and his most recent book Back to Sanity.

His articles and essays have been published in over 40 academic journals, magazines and newspapers, including The Journal of Humanistic Psychology,
The Journal of Consciousness Studies and The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology. His work has been featured widely in the media in the UK, including on BBC Breakfast
TV, BBC World TV, Radio 4 Woman's Hour, Radio Five Live, and in The Daily Mail, The Guardian and The Independent. Author of The Power of Now. Eckhart Tolle
has described Steve's work as â€œan important contribution to the shift in consciousness which is happening on our planet at present.â€ Steve has also just
published his first book of poems, The Meaning. www.stevenmtaylor.co.uk

Dr. Glenn Hartelius

Glenn Hartelius serves as Assistant Professor in the Residential PhD and Global PhD faculties at Sofia University in Palo Alto, California (USA). He is editor of the International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, a broadly indexed peer-reviewed academic journal, and Secretary of the International Transpersonal Association.

His areas of scholarly interest include transpersonal psychology, somatic psychology, consciousness studies, and phenomenology. His published work includes a well-cited study that developed what is the most comprehensive empirically-based and historically-informed synopsis of the definition of transpersonal psychology to date.

He has also published in the area of consciousness studies, contributing to the foundations for a somatic phenomenology. He is currently co-editing a forthcoming book that will be the first-ever Handbook of Transpersonal Psychology, through Wiley-Blackwell.

Dr. Jessica Bockler

Jessica Bockler is an Applied Theatre practitioner, lecturer and consultant with background in Transpersonal Psychology. She has extensive experience of creative programme management and multi-modal arts facilitation in community, education and health contexts. Jessica specialises transpersonal and somatic approaches to creative practice, combining expressive multi-modal arts work with practices enhancing mindfulness and body awareness. She is the Director of Creative Alternatives, an â€œarts on prescriptionâ€ service in the borough of Sefton, Merseyside, UK which is NHS funded.

Jessica has a PhD in Psychology from Liverpool John Moores University. In her research she explored â€œTheatre as a Transformative Practiceâ€, examining the psychosomatic dynamics of self-expressive performance practices. Her research contributed to the theory of psychosomatics in healing and personal growth and to the understanding of transformative and transportative effects of theatre-based work in community, corporate and therapeutic settings. Other research interests include: creativity, psychopathology and human flourishing, somatic psychology, drama and conflict resolution, psychology of ritual, Jungian psychology and mysticism. Jessicas life and work are further nurtured by her study of the Japanese martial arts Aikido and Iaido which help her stay grounded and present in today's virtual-reality-oriented world.

Dr. Alasdair Gordon-Finlayson

Alasdair Gordon-Finlayson came across both transpersonal psychology and Zen Buddhism during his undergraduate studies in South Africa, and after some time travelling has settled down in the UK where he has completed his doctorate in psychology and taken vows as a trainee Zen Buddhist priest.

His academic interests are in religious change, orientation and identity, mindfulness and Buddhist psychology. Methodologically, Alasdair has an interest in constructivist grounded theory and the teaching of qualitative research methodology in general, having worked with the UK Higher Education Academy for the past six years to help improve the provision of teaching of qualitative methods in the UK.

Ellis Linders

Ellis Linders was born in the Netherlands and came to the UK to work as an au pair and stayed. Her first degree is in theatre-studies, after which she worked as a performer /director and teacher, whilst gaining increasing interest in energy-medicine and spiritual practice.

She has a background in Theosophy and Anthroposophy, the Qabalah of the Western Mystery Tradition and Psychosynthesis. In 2011 she gained her MSc in Consciousness studies and Transpersonal Psychology (distance learning) at Liverpool John Moores University.

Her particular areas of interest and experience are Spiritual Emergency, the role of the body in spirituality, illness as process of consciousness transition, and the relationship between energy medicine and the study of consciousness. Ellis functions as e-moderator for the programme, meaning that she ensures that all students are comfortable with all the various IT-systems we're using.

David Lorimer

David Lorimer is a writer, lecturer and editor, and Programme Director of the Scientific and Medical Network. He is also President of Wrekin Trust and Chief Executive of Character Education Scotland. Originally a merchant banker then a teacher of philosophy and modern languages at Winchester College, he is the author and editor of over a dozen books, most recently The Protein Crunch (with Jason Drew) and A New Renaissance (edited with Oliver Robinson).

He has a long-standing interest in the perennial wisdom and has translated and edited books about the Bulgarian sage Peter Deunov. He is also a founding member of the International Futures Forum and was editor of its digest, Omnipedia - Thinking for Tomorrow. His book on the ideas and work of the Prince of Wales - Radical Prince - has been translated into Dutch, Spanish and French.

He is the originator of the Learning for Life Values Poster Programmes, which this year involved over 30,000 young people from more than 200 schools. David serves as link-person between the programme and the SMN, ensuring
that the SMN archive is effectively integrated and available
to students.

Paul Maiteny

Paul is a psychotherapist (in private practice), an ecologist and anthropologist. He is a steering committee member of the transpersonal faculty of the UKCP. With 30 years' experience in ecological education and research, he has been publishing on what is now known as ecopsychology since the 1990s, focusing on its psycho-spiritual and cultural dimensions.

Paul has held research and teaching posts at Oxford and Open Universities, and UCL. Research interests include psycho-spiritual and socio-cultural causes and consequences of ecological problems, the possible evolution of sustainability, human evolution in transpersonal (and eco-systemic) context, and clues to the latter within spiritual-religious texts, scriptures and myths. He has
always been inspired by the invisible web of relationships between beings that constitute the eco-system.